KR102544409B1 - Method and system for manufacturing optical lenses with electronic components - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for manufacturing an optical lens (12) comprising at least one electronic component (14, 16), the method comprising: - providing a mechanical frame of reference on an optical lens blank configured to be machined to form an optical lens (S2). ); - providing (S4) edging data configured to be used for edging the optical lens blank to form an optical lens; - embedding (S6) at least one electronic component in the optical lens based on the edging data and the mechanical frame of reference.

Description

Method and system for manufacturing optical lenses with electronic components

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an optical lens comprising at least one electronic component. The invention also relates to a system for the execution of such a method.

Electronic glasses are important and experiencing rapid growth. More and more electronic glasses are being developed with a wide variety of different electronic components.

The electronic element may be embedded directly into the electronic eyeglass frame or directly into the electronic lens capable of communicating with the electronic eyeglass frame to which the electronic lens is mounted.

Electronic eyeglass frames and/or electronic lenses may include a number of different electronic elements such as sensors, displays, active lenses, batteries, processors for local processing and communication devices, and charging devices.

As interest in electronic eyeglasses increases, it becomes important to provide solutions that enable integration of electronic components in lenses.

Currently, it is widely known to embed electronic elements after the edging process of the lens is completed.

However, edged lenses are small components, thin and flexible, and consequently not easy to handle for special processing such as printing electronic components or adding electronic components to lenses.

Therefore, a solution is needed that allows the integration of electronic elements into a lens.

The object of the present invention is to propose such a solution.

To this end, the present invention proposes a method for manufacturing an optical lens comprising at least one electronic component, the method comprising:

- providing a mechanical reference system on an optical lens blank configured to be machined to form an optical lens;

- providing edging data configured to be used for edging an optical lens blank to form an optical lens;

- embedding at least one electronic component in the optical lens based on the edging data and the mechanical frame of reference.

Advantageously, this method can be performed in an edging device or other device without the need for calibration and/or visual detection of specific areas of the lens into which electronic components will be embedded, for example printing and posing processes will be performed. It enables the handling of the lens for a specific task.

According to further embodiments that can be considered alone or in combination according to all possible combinations,

- the method further comprises the step of detachably attaching a blocking piece to the surface of the optical lens blank, the blocking piece forming a mechanical frame of reference;

- the method further comprises providing lens data in relation to the mechanical frame of reference, the lens data comprising:

the position of the optical center of the optical lens to be manufactured, and/or

the orientation of the optical axis of the optical lens to be manufactured, and/or

The optical power of the optical lens to be manufactured, and/or

position of the contour of the optical lens to be manufactured, and/or

the thickness of the optical lens to be manufactured relative to a plurality of points on the surface of the optical lens blank, and/or

contains the curvature radii of the first and second surfaces of the lens to be manufactured;

at least one electronic component is further built into the optical lens based on the lens data;

- embedding at least one electronic component in the optical lens,

• printing at least one electronic component on the surface of the optical lens;

• embedding at least one electronic component into an optical lens;

at least one of the steps of printing a fixing material configured to position the at least one electronic component on the surface of the optical lens;

- the method further comprises printing a coating for protecting at least a predetermined area of an electronic component embedded in the optical lens;

- the method further comprises the step of printing by means of a 3D printing process based on a mechanical frame of reference,

- Way,

• providing data of at least one electronic component;

processing the optical lens blank based on at least the data of the electronic component, the edging data and the mechanical frame of reference to form a cavity for receiving the at least one electronic component;

- the method further comprises edging the optical lens blank based on the edging data and the mechanical frame of reference to form the optical lens prior to embedding the at least one electronic component in the optical lens,

- the method further comprises forming another frame of reference on the surface of the optical lens, wherein the at least one electronic component is embedded in the optical lens based on the edging data and the other frame of reference;

- another frame of reference is formed during edging of the optical lens blank,

- the method further comprises the step of surfacing at least the surface of the optical lens blank, wherein the other frame of reference is formed during surfacing of the optical lens blank,

- at least one electronic component is embedded in an optical lens in an edging device configured to edge an optical lens blank to form an optical lens;

The invention also relates to a system for the execution of a method for manufacturing an optical lens comprising at least one electronic component according to the invention.

Another object of the present invention relates to an optical lens comprising at least one electronic component manufactured according to the manufacturing method according to the present invention.

included in the context of the present invention.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the following drawings, which are:
- Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a head-worn device comprising an electro-optical lens made according to an embodiment of the present invention;
- Figure 2 shows a flow diagram of a method for manufacturing an optical lens comprising at least one electronic component according to the invention; and
- Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a blocking part attached on an optical lens.
Elements in the drawings are drawn for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some elements in the drawings may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help improve understanding of embodiments of the invention.

An object of the present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an optical lens comprising at least one electronic component, and a corresponding optical lens manufactured according to this method. Such an optical lens, also called an electro-optical lens, may be incorporated into a head-worn device, for example.

These head-worn systems are electro-optical devices that are worn on the head by the wearer. Typically, these systems are electronically controlled to switch between different stages or display information to the wearer. As shown in FIG. 1 , the head mounted system 10 is generally provided as a spectacle frame having at least one electronically controlled spectacle lens 12 . The electro-optical lens 12 includes at least one electronic component, for example an electronic wire 14 and/or another electronic element 16 . For example, electronic element 16 may be a sensor.

In the sense of the present invention, an optical lens is to be understood as any part suitable for manufacturing a lens with an integrated electronic device. For example, the method can be used to manufacture two mineral shells configured to be assembled together to form an electrochromic lens. Electronic components may be embedded on at least one of the mineral shells.

Referring to Figure 2, the method of manufacturing an optical lens including at least one electronic component according to the present invention, at least,

- providing a mechanical frame of reference (S2);

- providing edging data (S4); and

- Includes an electronic component embedding step (S6).

During step S2 of providing a mechanical frame of reference, a mechanical frame of reference is provided on an optical lens blank configured to be machined to form an optical lens. In the meaning of the present invention, a “mechanical frame of reference” is a physical object that defines a frame of reference, such as one or more markings, nicks, wedges, or the like.

Then, during step S4, edging data configured to be used for edging the optical lens blank to form an optical lens is provided.

The method further includes edging the optical lens blank based on the edging data and the mechanical frame of reference to form the optical lens prior to embedding the at least one electronic component in the optical lens.

During the electronic component embedding step S6, the above or each electronic component is embedded in the optical lens based on the edging data and the mechanical frame of reference.

According to one embodiment, electronic components can be printed on the surface of the optical lens. More specifically, the printing process may be a 3D printing process based on a mechanical frame of reference.

According to another embodiment, electronic components are disposed on the surface of the optical lens.

According to another embodiment, the electronic component is embedded into the optical lens, ie embedded between two surfaces of the optical lens.

According to another embodiment, a fixing material configured to position the at least one electronic component, such as for example an adhesive or solder material, can advantageously be printed on the surface of the optical lens.

Preferably, the method further includes a blocking portion attaching step S8 in which the blocking portion is detachably attached to the surface of the optical lens blank before the electronic component embedding step S6. 3 shows an electro-optical lens 12 manufactured by the method according to the invention and mounted on a spectacle frame 18 . The blocking portion 20 is attached on the optical lens and may be used during the step of mounting the electro-optical lens on the spectacle frame 18 .

Advantageously, the blocking portion is attached, eg adhered, on the surface of the optical lens at the beginning of the edging process and forms a mechanical reference system that can be used for further processing and in particular for the integration of optical lenses and electronic components. . Therefore, all information about the optical lens shape and the edging process is stored in the edging device. The edging data contains at least this information and is used during the embedding step S6. Thus, the blocking portion advantageously forms an absolute criterion on the lens.

The blocking portion can be attached either on the convex surface or on the concave surface of the lens.

For example, this edging data may be used to perform further processing on the edged lens, typically such as printing conductive wires and positioning and positioning electronic components to be directly inserted or soldered into the optical lens. can

Prior to this process, the edging device may also perform special operations to enable the printing process and component placement process, such as edging special shapes such as, for example, paths for electronic wires to be printed or holes for electronic components. can also be done

Advantageously, this special shape is realized on the lens during the edging step. Also, the special shapes may be countersinks, grooves, changes in the polished surface, and/or engravings on the convex, concave or both surfaces of the optical lens and/or on the edge of the optical lens. For example, these special shapes are advantageously used to form cavities in which electronic components can be encapsulated.

The edging data includes at least mechanical information about the position of the blocking portion relative to the optical lens. Thus, no calibration or measurement of the edged lens is required to determine where to place printed circuits and/or electronic components. Using one single database as a mechanical reference is a great advantage and simplifies the entire process.

To this end, the method includes steps for providing data of said or each electronic component to be embedded in an optical lens, and at least data of the electronic component, edging data and mechanical components to form a cavity for receiving at least one electronic component. It may further include a step for processing the optical lens blank based on the reference system.

Advantageously, the method may further comprise a lens data providing step S10 in which lens data relating to the mechanical frame of reference is provided, wherein said or each electronic component is further built into the optical lens based on such lens data. . More specifically, the position of the electronic component to be embedded is determined based on the lens data. Lens data,

- the location of the optical center of the optical lens to be manufactured, and/or

- the orientation of the optical axis of the optical lens to be manufactured, and/or

- optical refractive power of the optical lens to be manufactured, and/or

- the position of the contour of the optical lens to be manufactured, and/or

- the thickness of the optical lens to be produced relative to a plurality of points of the surface of the optical lens blank, and/or

- the curvature radii of the first and second surfaces of the lens to be manufactured.

The lens data providing step ( S10 ) may further include a lens data measuring step ( S12 ) in which lens data is measured in relation to a mechanical frame of reference. More specifically, lens data can advantageously be measured in relation to a mechanical frame of reference, for example during an edging step. Some of these lens data can then be used by the system configured for execution of the electronic component embedding step S6. For example, the radius of curvature of the lens and the thickness of the optical lens can be very useful for placing the or individual electronic components in the optical lens. In practice, most electronic components should be placed on a "flat" surface, that is, a surface perpendicular to the z-axis of the placement system. Data from the edging system may be used to achieve such location.

The measurement performed by the edging device configured to implement the edging step may be performed specifically for the purpose of the electronic component embedding step S6. For example, an electronic printing device configured to print electronic components on a lens may require special measurements by the edging device to accurately measure the location of the surface on which the wires are to be printed.

Advantageously, the method may further comprise printing on the surface of the optical lens a coating for protecting at least a predetermined area of an electronic component embedded in the optical lens.

According to one embodiment, the method advantageously further comprises forming another frame of reference on the surface of the optical lens, wherein the at least one electronic component is embedded in the optical lens based on the edging data and the other frame of reference. Another frame of reference may be formed during edging of the optical lens blank or during surface treatment of the optical lens blank.

Another object of the invention relates to a system for the implementation of a method for manufacturing an optical lens comprising at least one electronic component according to the invention.

According to one embodiment, the system is an edging device configured to edge an optical lens blank to form an optical lens. The above or each electronic component is incorporated into the optical lens directly in the edging device.

More specifically, an edging device may include a system arranged and configured to print electronic wires and electronic components onto a lens.

In addition, the edging device may include a pick and place electronic component tool arranged and configured to directly pick up and place each electronic component to be embedded on the lens.

Advantageously, a single device is used for the edging step and the embedding step.

According to another embodiment, a system for performing a method according to the present invention comprises an edging device for performing an edging step, and another device for performing an embedding step. Advantageously, the blocking part is attached on the surface of the optical lens at the beginning of the edging step and remains on the edged lens for use in other devices for embedding electronic components.

Thus, advantageously, the embedding step is not contaminated by the edging step, which can be quite dirty.

For example, other devices may include a printing device and a placement device. In this case, the blocking device is first attached onto the surface of the optical lens blank. Optical lens blanks can be subjected to special pre-treatments for future electronic components. The optical lens blank is then edged in a well-known edging process in an edging device. Special shapes and/or holes may be added to allow electronic components to be embedded. After the edging step, the lens edged due to the blocking portion is placed in the printing device, and the edging data is received by the printing device. Electronic wires and printable electronic components are then printed on the optical lens based at least on the edging data. After the printing step, the optical lens is placed in the placement device due to the blocking part, and the edging data is received by the placement device. The electronic component is then placed in the optical lens based at least on the edging data. Finally, the blocking portion is removed from the optical lens or used for other processing.

Another advantage of this embodiment is that the mechanical frame of reference formed by the blocking portion does not depend on the accuracy of the edging step.

According to other embodiments compatible with the previous embodiments, a system for carrying out the method according to the present invention may further comprise a tracker, an optical lens blocker, and/or a drilling device.

The present invention has been described above with the help of embodiments without limitation to the general inventive concept.

Many further variations and modifications will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art upon reference to the above-described exemplary embodiments, which are given by way of example only, the subject matter of which is determined solely by the appended claims. It is not intended to limit the scope of the invention.

For example, if the optical lens is realized with a digital surface treatment process, a predetermined pattern may be realized on the optical lens during the surface treatment process, for example. The optical lens is then edged, and this predetermined pattern may form a mechanical reference system used during the electronic component embedding step. This predetermined pattern is advantageously arranged in such a way that it is not visible when the optical lenses are mounted on the spectacle frame.

In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article "a" or "an" does not exclude a plural. The mere fact that different features are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these features cannot be used to advantage. Any reference signs in the claims should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention.

Claims (14)

A method of manufacturing an optical lens (12) comprising at least one electronic component (14, 16), comprising:
- providing (S2) a mechanical frame of reference on an optical lens blank configured to be machined to form said optical lens;
- providing (S4) edging data configured to be used for edging the optical lens blank to form the optical lens; and
- embedding (S6) said at least one electronic component in said optical lens based on edging data and said mechanical frame of reference;
edging the optical lens blank based on the edging data and the mechanical frame of reference to form the optical lens prior to embedding the at least one electronic component in the optical lens. According to claim 1,
Further comprising a step (S8) of detachably attaching a blocking portion to the surface of the optical lens blank, wherein the blocking portion forms the mechanical reference system. According to claim 1,
Further comprising providing lens data in relation to the mechanical frame of reference (S10), wherein the lens data,
- the position of the optical center of said optical lens to be manufactured,
- the orientation of the optical axis of the optical lens to be produced,
- optical refractive power of said optical lens to be manufactured,
- the location of the contour of the optical lens to be manufactured,
- the thickness of the optical lens to be manufactured relative to a plurality of points on the surface of the optical lens blank, and
- at least one of the radii of curvature of the first and second surfaces of the lens to be produced;
Wherein the at least one electronic component is additionally built into the optical lens based on lens data. According to claim 1,
The step of embedding the at least one electronic component in the optical lens,
- printing said at least one electronic component on the surface of said optical lens;
- embedding said at least one electronic component into said optical lens; and
- printing a fixing material configured to position the at least one electronic component on the surface of the optical lens. According to claim 1,
The optical lens manufacturing method further comprising the step of printing a coating for protecting at least a predetermined area of the electronic component embedded in the optical lens. According to claim 1,
Further comprising the step of printing by a 3D printing process based on the mechanical reference system, optical lens manufacturing method. According to claim 1,
- providing data of said at least one electronic component; and
- processing the optical lens blank based on the data of the at least one electronic component, the edging data and the mechanical frame of reference to form a cavity for receiving the at least one electronic component. manufacturing method. According to claim 1,
Further comprising forming another frame of reference on a surface of the optical lens, wherein the at least one electronic component is embedded in the optical lens based on the edging data and the other frame of reference. According to claim 8,
The optical lens manufacturing method, wherein the other frame of reference is formed during edging of the optical lens blank. According to claim 9,
Further comprising surface treatment of at least a surface of the optical lens blank, wherein the other reference frame is formed during surface treatment of the optical lens blank. According to claim 1,
wherein the at least one electronic component is embedded in the optical lens by an edging device configured to edge the optical lens blank to form the optical lens. System for the execution of a method for manufacturing an optical lens comprising at least one electronic component according to claim 1 . An optical lens comprising at least one electronic component manufactured by the manufacturing method according to any one of claims 1 to 11. delete

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